Xenakis: Dhipli Zyia

'Music is like a crystal ball that is nothing in itself, but in which one can see things.' Not representing the world in music but creating a world: it is the creative act of Iannis Xenakis, 'bringing into being something out of nothing. Engendering the unengendered'. This CD brings together, for the very first time, the complete works that Xenakis composed for solo cello '+ 1'. They illustrate the evolution of a unique compositional trajectory, underpinned by energeia, the active creative force of Greek thought, which shapes a thing up until it happens: a proof of sound force in which energetic currents and dynamic surfaces are confronted. Æon hereby continues its collaboration with cellist Arne Deforce whose inspiration and weight of artistic evidence reach new peaks with this disc.

This Vol. II that Stradivarius dedicates to Milano Musica Festival, includes four chamber compositions by Iannis Xenakis: each of the four belonging to a different period of his artistic activity; the famous Octandre by Edgar Varèse, one of the pillars of 20th-century music; and Mediterraneo by Fausto Romitelli (1963-2004), an untimely death, one of the most significant composers of the present European generation. This important release by the Dutch mezzo soprano Marieke Koster and the prestigious Asko Ensemble, an outstanding contemporary music ensemble founded in 1965, is here directed by Stefan Asbury.

“absolutely a reference point in the contemporary scene” Claudio Strinati, Il Venerdì-Repubblica, April 2nd 2010